The (Asian) Education of Miss 爱美丽

I’ve been to Macau half-a-dozen times now, thanks to the hospitality of a few great Fulbright friends and a few trips with visitors that I’ve hosted.  Though it’s much better known for its outrageous casino scene (it made headlines in 2006 by outstripping Vegas as the most profitable gambling market in the world), this part [...]

Happy Year of the Ox!
Because I cannot say no to a travel opportunity, I jetted out to Bangkok the same Sunday my visitors from NYC left. ‘Twas the night before the Lunar New Year festivities kicked off in Chinese communities worldwide – including, we realized as we arrived in Yaowarat, the Thai capitol’s own Chinatown. Armed with  [...]

Gimme me an “H!” In two weeks we made major tracks in ‘Nam, hitting the biggest and best cities – 5 in total - all beginning with that under-rated letter.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
The traffic. The telephone wires. The bars. This city is on overload, but in the best way possible. I felt nothing but positive energy [...]

Highlights:

Taking a 9 hour train ride through rural China, accompanied by Cawnry (name of his own invention) an exceedingly enthusiastic guide with a curious Southern twang to his English  who studies political science in his spare time and who dreams of going to U.Chicago. (Farthest on the left in the Hexi teacher shot below).
Walking through a [...]

Back in the blissful summer days of SHYC, when I was a much more scrawny, bronzed little thing (ah the good old days), my friends and I would walk down to the harbor to the Quarter Deck to buy beads and make bracelets or necklaces (any SHYC girls reading this out there?). I moved on from that hobby [...]

It’s more the copy than the image that gives this public health campaign major panache points in my book. In the sad event that you’re too blind to (or to technologically impaired to zoom in on) the text, allow me to quote:
“To control snacking, establish a regular tea time everyday to enjoy your snacks and [...]